Adapting the Body Appreciation Scale-2 for Children: A psychometric analysis of the BAS-2C

•A children's version of the BAS-2 was validated among 9-11 year olds.•The BAS-2C displayed a unidimensional factor structure and internal consistency.•The scale displayed construct, criterion-related, and incremental validity.•Body appreciation was correlated with body-related and emotional well-being.•The BAS-2C offers a valuable tool to understand children's positive body image.

Positive body image among adults is related to numerous indicators of well-being. However, no research has explored body appreciation among children. To facilitate our understanding of children's positive body image, the current study adapts and validates the Body Appreciation Scale-2 (BAS-2; Tylka & Wood-Barcalow, 2015a) for use with children. Three hundred and forty-four children (54.4% girls) aged 9-11 completed the adapted Body Appreciation Scale-2 for Children (BAS-2C) alongside measures of body esteem, media influence, body surveillance, mood, and dieting. A sub-sample of 154 participants (62.3% girls) completed the questionnaire 6-weeks later to examine stability (test-retest) reliability. The BAS-2C displayed a unidimensional factor structure and evidence of internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct, criterion-related, and incremental validity. Additionally, the results suggest adaptive properties of body appreciation for body-related and emotional well-being among children. The BAS-2C could serve as an essential component within research to understand and estimate children's positive body image.